The hill ate food from where it no longer allowed it

And I do not mean Russia, where I can no longer drive (no, not because of what I have said about Philip Bedrosovich Kirkorov, about other matters of my previous activity). I am thinking of Iran, which I know very well, but only through a fence: for several years I have been involved in the exploration of Iranian open source on behalf of the United States and Great Britain, I have directed people hired for it in various countries of all the world. the world, and the Iranian authorities are not waiting for me. Even if I let him in, he would have many questions for me. If anyone is interested in more about my past, just read a magazine named after me (already in its fifth year) or watch my show. Here I am writing about food.

I really wanted to try Persian food (and Iran is geographically more than Persia was for thousands of years) in Lithuania: hardly, how are we going to make such cuisine with a lot of rice, vegetables, dried fruits and nuts? If I had to mention two national Persian ingredients, I would mention pistachios and pomegranates – it seems that these components are always present in dishes.

I have eaten Persian dishes in various countries: Great Britain, and restaurants, and when familiar Persians have invited guests, India (where Persians live a lot), Azerbaijan, the United States and the United Arab Emirates (where the richest Iranians come en masse) and your money there is considered safer) from the regime and international sanctions on Iran, and welcomes alcohol and Ukrainians and Lithuanians, as it were, masseurs and goddesses of the hotel industry). However, ten years ago I would not have thought that there would also be Persian food in Lithuania.

I could say a lot about Iran and the Iranians, but I will say that here in Vilnius, when we ordered home, we got an example of Persian home cooking, which is very good – this is how ordinary people in Iran eat here. But no one in haute cuisine and promised (plus, Iranian haute cuisine and worse would lift the trip). The food in the restaurant “Termeh” was something that would correspond to Lithuanian potatoes, cutlets, borscht, white mix and “Lazy” cake of condensed milk and biscuits “Gaidelis”. I write like this, so as not to belittle it: sometimes I like traditional Lithuanian cuisine, it is expensive for me, and when it is done well, it makes me very happy. Now, as he wrote, he thought of soups with meat clamps, cutlets with mashed potatoes, zeppelins, and maybe even a fork. No, I was joking about the branch. Although the branching (especially very fresh) and the sweets “Paukščių pienas” manage to present me very well.

The rice (very well cooked, there, in Iran, in every way available, with initial soaking in salt water, various evaporations and different amounts of water) was exemplary: I was traumatized as a child Lithuanian-Soviet rice, which was a bad overcooked and a sticky lump, the worst of all the side dishes, and just after trying again the good rice of Indian, Thai or Iranian cuisine, I realize this is not a poor dish. No, rice can be very tasty, it can be fragrant, bulky (or sticky, like Thai “sticky rice”), and you can’t stop thinking about it.

Here I was surprised by the Persian pilaf (here from a set of three most popular meats, € 20.75): fragrant, with good meat, dry and lean, exactly how I like it. I know that in Lithuania, where there are a million basketball coaches, there are now a million pilaf teachers, and those people are unbearably obsessed with their recipes and disputes about the “only true and fair Uzbek pilaf”, only the enthusiasts of the ceramic barbecue are worse than them. I have even blocked a Kaunas dunduka plovavirus on all channels: that artist could not calm down, because he dreamed a lot about my review for his washing machine, and he was so eager for him that even at night he wrote and prayed, cursed, scold and prayed. moralized. And the Persian pilaf turned out to be fantastic.

The dumplings in a deep ruby ​​pomegranate sauce turned out to be very authentic to me. It was a true Iran. I know that in the photos, the disposable packaging may not be very impressive, but the most important thing is the certainty and the love of the producer. In all the dishes it was seen that they loved the food. The same breath was present in both soups: both with beef (a ridiculous price of 2.10 euros, definitely worth more), and in vegetarian lentil soup (3 euros); both had an abundance of spices and some moderation. Iranian spices in food are delicate, they never tear the mucous membranes out of the mouth, and they are shocking, and there was a good example here.

The Maltese beef kebab on the skewer was tender, like fluff, and I thought I might prefer the more intense and juicy flavor that I like on the northwestern border of India, near Afghanistan and Pakistan (yes, and those cuisines that I eaten, all kinds of meat marinated with yogurt, fried on a spit (real fiction), but there was a real Persian authenticity here.

Falafel was probably one of the best flavors ever, light and yet filling like air cakes. How could I not have been fascinated by falafel earlier? Wait, I know how. Because they were produced by crazy hipsters from Vilnius. And here there was a true triumph of the Middle Eastern classic (I know Iran itself is no longer the Middle East, but I mean the plate).

The wonderful honey-flavored dessert, baklava, was probably the softest and juiciest in a long time, perhaps only in Istanbul. Sorry we only collected two pieces.

We paid € 37.57 for the whole party, along with delivery and tips to the courier, and it’s really very cheap. Would you reorder? Even tomorrow, although Persian cuisine is certainly not my favorite, even when it is done very authentically and with love (if I had to eat that food every day for three weeks, I would probably be tired). Am I happy with how this exotic cuisine appears in Lithuania? Very. Lithuania needs more exotics, more foreigners, more flavors and smells of the world. Five out of five geese.

Termeh, Jasinskio Street 16a, Vilnius. Tel. +370 652 78159. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/termeh.lt/

Monday to Thursday from 07:30 to 20:30, Friday from 07:30 to 21:30, Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 20:30.